Ohio sees increase in fraudsters using fake credentials to access unemployment accounts

Increased attempts to defraud Ohio's unemployment system have led to problems for Ohioans trying to access their accounts legitimately.

Fraudsters are using fake credentials to try to access Ohioans' unemployment accounts, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services spokesman Bill Teets said. Over the past few weeks, 70% of new unemployment claims, about 15,000 claims preliminarily, have been flagged for further review.

Not all of those claims will end up being fraud, but the increase is significant compared to previous weeks when under 30% of new claims were flagged.

"We have identified the issue, which involves criminals accessing an individual’s account using fake credentials and are working to address it," Teets said.

Ohioans whose accounts were potentially affected will receive a notification and could lose access to their accounts temporarily. The locked accounts and confusion have led to long wait times at the unemployment call center.

Anyone having trouble accessing their account should call 1-866-576-0006 to regain access to their account, and go to unemployment.ohio.gov to report the potential fraud.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment payments have become a regular target for thieves. In February, two Cleveland-area men were charged with stealing $44,000 in unemployment benefits from the federal government, Ohio, Arizona, California and New Jersey.

That same month, an Ohio Job and Family Services worker was accused of processing 41 illegal pandemic unemployment claims totaling at least $150,000.

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Attempts to defraud Ohio unemployment increase in recent weeks